Development as ecology: the contribution of Pope Francis to the development debate

Abstract

Given the global social and environmental crises, Pope Francis reflects on the causes and solutions. His encyclicals, Laudato Si and Fratelli Tutti, suggest a plausible ‘good change’ or a notion of development. To locate his insights within the relevant debate, this article uses sociocultural viability theory, which proposes four ideal typical, mutually exclusive and jointly exhaustive worldviews and development outlooks. The pontiff’s reflections are associated with the post-development paradigm and the egalitarian outlook, which is characterised by high group and low grid. Regarding group, all beings are regarded as intertwined, prompting a mutual responsibility among people as well as one of people towards nature, our common home. Concerning grid, the exclusive focus on either markets or hierarchies is rejected, while recognising the instrumental value of some of their features insofar they lead to the common good. With his contributions, Francis enters the development debate redefining it as ecology.